A Matter of Time
by Musicisthesavior
Summary: How could Clover ever admit her feelings for the ghoul she knew could lose control at any time? She knew she needed to come clean about her love for the mayor, but she also knew that it could only be a matter of time before she'd lose him forever.
1. Prologue

Prologue

Three small words.

That's all it took. Just three small words and they'd be together forever. It's not as if she didn't know he felt the same way about her. This much was obvious. In fact, sometimes she couldn't quite put her finger on the reason she was so scared to tell him.

Possibilities ran through her head constantly. Maybe it was the fact that her husband was frozen and dead in a vault. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that she just learned that her formerly thought to be an infant son was 30 years older than she was and running the very thing that the whole Commonwealth was afraid of. Maybe it was the fact that in her best efforts to save the place she now called home, she had to watch her son die in the process. Maybe it was all of these things, but one thing in particular that stood out to her, and it was this thing that she always came back to.

When scouting out the former theme park known as Nuka World, she met a very strange ghoul by the name of Oswald. He said there had to be a cure for ghoulism and that his woman was out there looking for it as they spoke. She almost believed him to, until she traveled further north and discovered the body, along with a holotape.

"Oswald, I'm sorry. I've looked everywhere I could think, but there's no cure. What towns and outposts I could find said that we ghouls just go feral eventually, and there's nothing to be done."

Those words. Those sounds. They were stuck on repeat constantly ringing through her ears. Over and over she would hear Rachel say her goodbyes while slowly turning feral. She heard them whenever she looked over to the man he loved. Was this his fate? Was it inevitable that eventually he too would become one of them? How long would it take?

"Wow, well, let's hope that shit doesn't happen to me," he chuckled after the holotape was over. She even laughed with him, because of course it wasn't going to happen. Lately though, it's all she could think about. She couldn't lose another love, she just couldn't.

So now here she was, facing a question with no answer. She knew he wanted her, and God did she want him. She just didn't see how she could risk the pain. What if he did turn feral? What then? Would she have to kill him herself? She knew she couldn't stomach that.

There she sat, wondering how in the hell she got herself into this mess. How did she fall hopelessly in love with the ghoul mayor of Goodneighbor?


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One

"That's right Goodneighbor, I'm the one you're looking for," Magnolia crooned softly into the microphone. Clover rolled her eyes. She'd heard that line so many times. She sipped at her drink and jumped at the feeling of a hand on her shoulder.

"Woah, sorry sister. You didn't tell me you were coming," she smiled at his voice and looked over at him. Hancock was one of the most attractive people she'd ever seen, even as a ghoul. He smiled and sat beside her, getting himself a drink.

"I got tired of sulking and being alone," she replied. It was the truth. Ever since she destroyed the Institute she had a wave of depression come over her. She knew she needed to see the one person she trusted the most.

"Does that mean you want to hit the road?" he grinned. He never thought it would happen, but he was getting sick of Goodneighbor. Maybe he was just getting sick of not being around her. He didn't really know, but all he knew was he needed to get back out there, somehow.

Clover nodded her head, "Garvey has been on my ass to help out more settlements, so if you're wanting to help out and do some good, I'd say let's go."

"Sure, whatever I can do to help out," he replied happily.

After grabbing essentials and informing Fahrenheit of their departure, they headed off into the unforgiving Commonwealth. Unfortunately, the settlement that really needed help was one that was way south. It was always a tougher time to fight their way down there. However, they eventually made it, only to be asked to clear out a pack of super mutants.

Now, it wasn't that Clover didn't love to help out. She really did love it. In fact, everyone was always telling her how she was too nice. Sometimes though, she got tired of having to do everything for everybody. It seemed a little strange to her that she could single handedly do things that a whole settlement was unable to. She just shrugged it off usually, but sometimes it really seemed to get to her.

"Tell me why I always agree to this," she complained to Hancock as they hiked to the super mutants who were giving the settlers trouble.

"I don't really know, sister. I'm constantly wondering the same thing. I suppose it's because you have such a kind heart," he said with a cute smile. She smiled at him and nudged him a little. He was so sweet to her.

"Yeah well, maybe I need to work on that."

The walk was farther than they thought. They stopped and sat on a log, passing a bottle of purified water back and forth. The silence between them grew almost uncomfortable. Hancock eventually cleared his throat.

"Okay, so I think I'm going to address the elephant in the room. I know you don't want to talk about it but I think we have to, because I know you've been beating yourself up about it. There's absolutely not one thing you could have done to save him. He was sick and stubborn. And you really did do the right thing. Bringing the Institute down is the absolute best thing you could have done for the Commonwealth. Stop doubting yourself. The sooner you accept all this, the sooner you'll stop pushing away all the people who care about you."

She knew he was right. All this time she spent locked up at Sanctuary, hiding from all the people who would come to check on her. She nodded a little and looked up at him letting a small smile show through. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and brought her close.

"I hope you realize how much I care about you, sister," he mumbled, laying his head on hers, "I just want to see you be happy again. You've got such a smile."

"I know, and I'll try," she whispered. She knew it was time to stop feeling sorry about herself and actually do something to make it better, and she even knew where to start. Unfortunately, she also knew that she was far too scared to do it.

"Good, how about we get back to helping out those settlers," he got up and held his hand out for her. She took it and stood, nodding her head.

They took out the mutants easy enough. They started to search for anything useful, and Clover tossed Hancock any chems she found. She rarely used them, and besides, Hancock would usually offer them to her when he thought she might need them. She grabbed any medical supplies, ammo, and food she could find.

"Okay, we can give some of this to the settlement, to replace some of what they lost," she mumbled mostly to herself.

"You don't want to keep it as payment for helping them out?" he said with a smirk.

She rolled her eyes and headed toward the door, "c'mon, I want to get back before the sun-"

She was interrupted by the door being pushed open, throwing her back and making her smack her head against the wall. Hancock cursed and began to fire at the mutant that they had apparently missed. Clover's ears were ringing and her eyes were blurred from the impact. She groaned and got herself up on her feet, fumbling for her gun. She was thrown back to the ground when the mallet collided with her stomach. She coughed and scooted her body away from the mutant, letting Hancock finish it off. It hit the ground with a loud thud, and Hancock ran over to her, kneeling by her.

"What's going on with you, what can I do to help?" he asked urgently. She mumbled something about her head. He sighed, "Maybe we should stay here tonight. It's cleared out now and there are some beds. I really don't think it'd be the smartest to have you walking around out there right now."

After heavy protests and stern persuasions, they decided to bunk in the abandoned building. Hancock found Clover something to cover with and a straw pillow. He sat beside the bed and stroked her hair gently.

"You need to be more careful, dollface," he mumbled. She smiled softly and nodded gently in agreement.

They stayed this way until she fell asleep. Even then, Hancock continued to play with her hair and watch her. He was madly in love with this girl, but he wanted the best for her. He knew she could do so much better than him. She deserved a real man, a smooth skinned man. He sighed and got up, sitting on the empty bed. He knew he wouldn't get any sleep, so he prepared to keep watch for the night.

Luckily for him, "watch" consisted of watching the sleeping girl he loved so much.


End file.
